Q-9 Sense of numbness after surgery
I continue to have a sense of numbness around the jaw since surgery. Is this curable?
A-9 This is a sequela of surgery, and may take one or two years to heal.
Total laryngectomy involves extensive incisions in the skin of the front of the neck, the severing of a number of muscles, and the resection of most or all of the larynx. This procedure also involves the removal of the cervical lymph nodes. During such surgery, a great many different blood vessels and nerves, large and small alike, are severed or damaged.
Due to the trauma involved in total laryngectomy, the scarred and other tissue surrounding the site of neck surgery will feel dull or convey a sense of numbness when touched. Some people report that they have a tingling sensation when touched.
The massive doses of cobalt sometimes involved in radiotherapy invade the hair follicles in men, preventing them from growing a mustache or beard. The ends of very small blood vessels (capillaries) and nerves are also destroyed.
One or two years after surgery, however, the blood vessels and nerves will have regenerated little by little, and men can also grow a mustache or beard. The sense of numbness will also likely have disappeared.
